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| 40 militants, six soldiers killed in Mohmand |
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Monday, January 12, 2009
Over 600 Taliban attack FC check-posts
By our correspondent
GHALLANAI: Forty militants, including two commanders, and six soldiers were killed in deadly clashes in Lakaro Tehsil of Mohmand Agency, as security forces repulsed attacks by local and foreign fighters on three check-posts on Sunday, sources said.
The sources said over 600 foreign and local militants simultaneously attacked three checkposts of the security forces in Mamad Gat, Sagi and Lakaro with heavy weapons late Saturday night. However, the security forces returned the fire with artillery and rockets from Ghallanai headquarters and Bhai Dag camp and the encounter continued for several hours.
The sources said six personnel of the paramilitary Khushal Scouts, identified as Akbar Ali, Saeed Badshah, Muhammad Jan, Zamidullah, Yousaf Khan, and Noor Rahman, were killed during an exchange of fire at the Mamad Gat checkpost.
However, some other media reports put the death toll among the security forces at 10. The sources said the militants also captured a portion of the checkpost, but the security forces immediately pushed back the militants and retook the control of the camp after intense fighting. The Mohmand Model School in Mamad Gat area was partially damaged when a shell hit the building.
Similarly, seven personnel of the paramilitary Mohmand Rifles, identified as Subedar Gul Dad, Naib Subedar Sadiq and soldiers Janas, Irfan, Mir Afzal, and Muhammad Riaz, were injured when the militants attacked the Sagi checkpoint in Lakaro Tehsil with heavy weapons. The name of another injured soldier could not be ascertained.
The injured security personnel were flown in helicopters to Peshawar, the sources added. However, military sources said the security forces killed 40 militants, including two important commanders, during the heavy artillery and rocket shelling on the hideouts of the militants soon after the attack. But independent sources put the militants’ death toll at 28.
The military sources claimed that some militants also surrendered during the fighting. A source said 22 security forces personnel relocated soon after the militants’ assault, while the Sagi checkpoint was completely destroyed in the attack.
However, 16 personnel later returned to the post but six of them, including Noor Mulla, Haq Nawaz, Dost Muhammad and Din Muhammad, were still missing. The identity of two other missing soldiers could not be established.
Gunship choppers were seen flying over the area the whole day. AFP adds: Hundreds of foreign militants attacked Pakistani forces near the border with Afghanistan, sparking clashes that left six soldiers and 40 militants dead, the military said on Sunday.
The fierce fighting began late on Saturday and continued early on Sunday in the lawless Mohmand tribal area in northwest Pakistan, a known Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold, the military said in a statement.
Most of the insurgents came from the Afghan side of the border and were joined by local Taliban fighters. The combined force of about 600 militants then attacked a Pakistani paramilitary Frontier Corps base near the border.
The militants, armed with mortars, rocket launchers and grenades, attacked the fort at Mamad Gate — where members of Pakistan’s elite Quick Reaction Force were stationed — from several directions, officials and witnesses told AFP. “Frontier Corps troops repulsed a massive attack by militants on one of its locations in the area,” the military said in a statement, adding that “severe fighting continued through the night”.
Residents told AFP the bodies of militants were left on the ground in the area. Seven soldiers were wounded in the gun battles, the military said, adding that paramilitary troops “inflicted heavy casualties” on the militants, without giving a toll for the enemy wounded.
Most of the attackers fled under heavy military fire, a security official told AFP. Some of the fighters surrendered, a military spokesman said later, without giving a specific figure. Sporadic gun battles continued for a few hours early on Sunday, the military said. Residents saw helicopters overhead but officials did not ssay if they had attacked militant positions. Security forces sealed all roads in the area and also in the neighbouring Bajaur tribal area, where the military is also battling militants, residents said.
APP adds: According to a Frontier Corps press release, the FC troops repulsed a massive attack by militants on its locations in Mohmand Agency. In the intense exchange of fire that continued all the night, the FC troops threw back the attackers, inflicting major casualties on them with 40 miscreants confirmed dead.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
